I'm going to post a few things I think are interesting as separate threads, sorry for the forum spam.If you want to throw money at something and see what happens, I'm registered and can do that for you, let me know

It ain't pretty, but then neither are my welds, looks like it was a belt grinder and wheel grinder combo, but the wheel has been let go. Anyway very handy tool and the price is right, at least at the moment. I'm willing to kick in for this one. $5

metis wrote:is that a small drum on the side rather than a disc mount?

the end of it shows heat wear that'd fit with use as a solid sanding drum

There are more pictures at the link to the item itself. It looks to me like there's a homemade cover over the shaft on the other side to keep the shaft and people apart, it could be the shaft hitting the cover causing the heat wear you are seeing. Not sure.